Centennial committee raises about $3,500 with the help of “Ivanka” last Saturday

Jack Elliott
RR Centennial Committee

Rainy River and area citizens were treated to to the comedy of “Ivanka” last Saturday at the Rainy River Community Centre. The event was held to raise money to help pay for the Rainy River Centennial festivities next year and it raised about $3,500 for the cause. Just over 200 tickets were sold for the event.
For the last six years, Jo-Ann Waytowich and Dianne Potts have been touring Canada with their increasingly popular productions of Ivanka. Ivanka, a phenomenal success can best be summed up as mostly an accident that almost didn’t happen.
Ivanka’s genesis came when Waytowich whose early career choices with various social agencies in her words, “didn’t make my mop flop,” went back to University. Her clowning around at class parties with her the Ivanka character was a big hit. She drew her inspiration from her childhood near Brandon in western Manitoba in a community with deep Eastern European ethnic roots.
For an Honours Project towards her Degree at Lakehead University, Waytowich wrote, produced, and performed the first in the Ivanka series, ‘I can sing, can’t I’.
“We crammed about 100 people in a room meant for 60 along with the adjudicators,” remembered Waytowich with a typical laugh.
“‘Let’s do it again’ was the response of my musical accompanist, Marcella Smithers, so we did- in a church,” she said, recalling how one performance brought demands for another and another, with the audience doubling each time. During the same period, a TV commercial with Ivanka touting a local firm had developed an almost cult following
“It was about then we thought, ‘Hey maybe we’re onto something here’ so I approached Magnus Theatre with the idea of professionally producing Ivanka,” said Waytowich.
And this is where the accidental phenomenon almost didn’t happen. For three years Magnus Theatre stalled, seeming to find excuse after excuse for not taking on Ivanka. But then, celebrating their 25th Anniversary, Magnus decided showcasing a local talent might be a pretty good idea.
‘We out sold everything Magnus Theatre had ever presented,” recalled Waytowich. Runs were extended and extended again. And the rest of the accidental phenomenon is, as the saying goes, history- almost.
Dianne Potts joined the production, also by accident, when Marcella Smithers- playing Ivanka’s twin sister, Marucia- came down with pneumonia just prior to a scheduled road trip. Potts, a home maker, professional music instructor and composer, had stood in as accompanist for another of Waytowich’s groups, a musical trio Broadway Bound. Potts was conscripted.
Potts described her reluctance to take on the project. “I was so shy. I couldn’t act, But they talked me into it’” said Potts as she recalled the trip to their first performance in Schreiber on an ice covered highway, with Waytowich rattling off, instructions and rehearsing cues.
“When we saw the MT (Ministry of Transport) van upside down in the ditch I was sure this was going to be a complete disaster,” she said, exhibiting again all the worst case of butterflies a first- or many time- performer can imagine.
And now the accidental phenomenon was complete. Smithers continues to play the part of Marucia on occasion. Waytowich and Potts have gone on to develop five episodes in the Ivanka series that play to packed houses across the country. Their second production was ‘Ivanka Delivers the Goods’. The third, ‘Ivanka Chews the Fat’ most recent performance was Rainy River on October 18. The fourth ‘Ivanka’s Perfect Christmas,’ is playing Calgary Dec 15-21. The fifth episode ‘Ivanka takes a Gamble’ will open next March 25th at Thunder Bay’s Magnus Theatre.
Each of the Ivanka series, although uproariously funny comedies, has top notch song and dance pieces and carries a really serious message whether about self-worth or the real meaning of Christmas. They really can’t be explained. You just have to experience them in person.
Big city theatre or local school auditorium, Waytowich says people’s reaction to her character is the same. Ivanka seems to resonate over a broad spectrum..
And although small town performances present challenges of travel, economics, and accommodations, Waytowich loves them as the small house with the lights up provides her with instantaneous feedback. When you attend such an Ivanka session, be prepared to laugh a little harder when you become a participant on stage.
Ivanka, an accidental phenomenon or perhaps destiny?